


Horror

by sariloire



Series: Ashae Lavellan [12]
Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Drabble, F/M, Prompt Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-31
Updated: 2015-10-31
Packaged: 2018-05-04 14:12:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 927
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5337014
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sariloire/pseuds/sariloire
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ashae remembers a close call she had with Templars when she was young, but Solas arrives just in time.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Horror

 

Ashae could hear the templars chasing after her as she crashed through the woods, running as fast as she could. Leaping over tree roots and fallen branches, ducking underneath foliage and clutching a stitch in her side, she looked over her shoulder for a moment and could see the light glinting off of their armour.

She was gaining distance, but the pain that was beginning to shoot through her ankle would slow her down before long. Her stomach felt queasy because of the pain, she was almost certain that her ankle was broken. The only  thing keeping her going was the small supply of elfroot that she carried with her whenever she left the safety of her clan. Chewing on it constantly from the moment she escaped the Templars had blunted the pain for the most part. Her bare feet were coated with blood from not taking the time to go around the bramble patches, and her arms were cut from thorns on the branches.

None of that mattered. The only thing that mattered was escaping.

“Catch the elf! Not only will we have another apostate to get rewarded for catching, but she would make someone a nice slave.” The templar’s shout was met with raucous laughter.

“Or we could keep her for ourselves!” One of the others shouted back, to even louder laughter and a few loud grunts of agreement. “No one would miss another one of these knife ears, after all.”

A blinding pain shot up her ankle and her leg buckled. Knowing it was over, but also knowing she couldn’t go down without a fight, Ashae rolled forward as she fell, propelling herself down the opposite side of the path. She tumbled down the hill until she reached the bottom, where she slammed into a tree and laid there, gasping with pain. But she was hidden from view. The darkened sky and the thick bramble bushed surrounding her were her protection.

Shouts from the top of the hill reached her ears, but the templars didn’t come after her. They thought she had broken her neck in the fall, or perhaps they knew she would die if left to the elements in the condition she was in.

Ashae laid there, looking up through the gaps in the foliage covering her body as clouds formed overhead and it started to rain.  _‘I’m going to die here. The clan won’t be able to find me, I didn’t even tell them where I was going.’_ She reached out a hand and a wisp of ice left her palm, but quickly faded. The pain was too much to work through. She closed her eyes and dropped her hand to the ground, tears sliding down the side of her face.

Suddenly she heard the branches snap and she opened her eyes, looking up. There was a face, one stricken with concern, wide blue eyes seeking out her own. “Who… who are you?” This wasn’t how she remembered it, no one had come for her.

The man pulled her up, she could feel the magic leaving his hands so gently as he lifted her into his arms. “Vhenan, you need to wake up.”

“But I’m not.. I’m not sleeping, and who are you?”

“Wake up, vhenan. Please.”  
  


* * *

  
Her eyes opened and she sat up in bed, gasping for breath and looking around the room wildly. Solas was at her side, not touching her, but his voice was calmly speaking to her from before her eyes ever opened until she was awake enough to be aware of where she was at.

“You’re safe, vhenan. You’re here, with me, we’re safe. It was just a dream.” He placed a hand on her shoulder, he had learned not to pull her close when she woke up from nightmares. When she reached a hand out to grasp his, he knew it was safe to pull her to him.

“It was… it was when I was seventeen. I had sneaked away from the clan when we were camped near Starkhaven. I had overheard travelers talking about a new store in the city full of old texts and I wanted to see it for myself. I managed to get in and buy a book with money I had made trading, but when I was leaving the city, my hood was pulled down by a city guard. They thought I was trying to escape from the alienage, and when they were dragging me back, I froze the feet of one of the guards to the ground and ran. The templars saw and chased after me then, and…” Her voice broke and Solas pulled her closer and she couldn’t stop the tears. “…and you saw the rest.” She finished, burying her face into his chest while she wrapped her arms around him to clutch at his back.

“I managed to make my way back up that hill after a few hours.” Her voice was muffled with sobs as Solas rubbed her back, tucking the blanket tighter around them both. “Some of my clan found me after I made it to the path. I was too afraid to leave for months afterward.”

Solas let the silence trail on as Ashae’s sobs worked their way through her body and eventually quieted as the windows began to brighten with light from the dawning sun.

“T-thank you for coming to find me, ma sa'lath.”

He ran a hand through her hair, reaching to gently knead the tight muscles in her neck. “I will always come to find you when you need me, vhenan.”

 


End file.
